Xabi Alonso welcomes “the risk” of 17th-placed Bayer Leverkusen

announced on Wednesday that they have sacked

Gerardo Seoane

and appointed

as their new manager. He has signed a two-year contract with the German club. Leverkusen has only one of their eight games in the Bundesliga this season and sit

17th

in the table.

Alonso started his coaching career with

Real Madrid

's youth team and in 2019 was appointed as

manager. He left them at the end of the last season.

Alonso said at his unveiling press conference on Thursday:

"There is of course always a risk.

"But you have to always improve and take steps forward. I firmly believe that it will work out here and I am fully motivated.

"Even as a player, I always wanted to take the right steps. I had the chance to coach good teams. But I felt I needed more time. Now I've realized that I'm ready."

Being linked to

Monchengladbach

last summer, Alonso confirmed "there have been inquiries" from teams from

Spain

but he opted to return to Germany, where he represented

as a player.

"For me, things stay in my head that I feel good about from my time at Bayern,"

he said

. "I already know about the German mentality, so that will help.

"Being here is very important for me. It's a great honour. After five years I must have forgotten some German, but I'll try my best to remember."

Leverkusen dismissed

Seoane

after their 2-0 loss to

Porto

, which was followed by a 4-0 Bundesliga defeat to Bayern. Despite securing a place in the top six through the last five seasons, the team now is in relegation danger as they will face

this weekend.

"These players have shown great quality in recent years. They should start to enjoy playing again and that way the fans will too,"

Alonso said

.

"I've kept following the Bundesliga and the teams have gotten better. That means I had to feel even more ready. There are a lot of good coaches in this division.

"I'm hoping I can mix up the play. As a former midfielder, I like control. I want to create a winning mentality here."

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